No Energy Transition without Sustainable Heat

Brussels, Belgium | June 24, 2014

Heating and cooling account for nearly half of the final energy consumed in the European Union. Marie Donnelly, Director of Renewables, Research and Innovation, and Energy Efficiency in DG Energy, underlined the European Commission’s growing awareness of the need to address this key sector as part of the EU’s broader energy policy during a special event in Brussels today.

Opening the High Level Policy Conference in the framework of EUSEW 2014, Marie Donnelly, Director of Directorate C in DG Energy, said “given the central role of heating within Europe’s wider energy picture, it is difficult to imagine a credible strategy for an energy transition in which it is not explicitly and thoughtfully addressed”.

Participants heard that the combination of improved end-use performance – in particular in buildings and industrial processes – and optimised heating and cooling supply, notably via more intelligent use of efficient technologies such as cogeneration and district heating, would allow for a more cost-effective energy transition. To that end, various panellists stressed the importance of identifying the optimal balance between investments aimed at reducing heat demand and providing more efficient, sustainable and affordable supply solutions.

COGEN Europe and Euroheat & Power, the organisers of the event, argue that the intelligent combination of these two objectives will be a vital tool in the EU’s pursuit of its overarching strategic, environmental and economic objectives as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible. Analysis shows that by getting this balance right with mutually supportive measures across the energy system, Europe could knock €100 billion euros every year off the cost of making the energy transition.

COGEN Europe and Euroheat & Power, together with industry representatives, very much welcome the EU’s growing interest in the heating sector and urge policymakers to build an EU heat strategy.

The time is ripe for the EU to harness the potential of the heating and cooling sector to help deliver the transition to a more efficient and sustainable economy.

The EU Sustainable Energy Week High-Level Policy Event: A Heating and Cooling Strategy for Europe was organised jointly by COGEN Europe and Euroheat & Power and focused on the crucial issue of delivering competitive and sustainable heat to industry and the residential sector.